I Know Him So Well
by RaccoonGirlKaoru
Summary: It was one summer afternoon when one girl dared to discover the outside world all by herself. She would learn her lesson the hard way. But she would gain something valuable in return. The story is still KxK with a twist.


I Know Him So Well

Little girl sneaked out of their house one summer afternoon to join the local town's festivities. There was a merry parade of masked artists marching on the main road followed by some groups of circus acts. Feeling mixed emotions of guilt (because she has got out of the house without her mom or dad's permission) and excitement (for being able to explore the wide and busy world in front of her as a ten-year old child), the little girl positioned herself near the performers to have a better view of their dance routine. Her innocent, sapphire eyes glistened in childlike glory and pure happiness. Every beat of the drum, stomps of the feet and applause from the crowd sounded music to her ears. _The outside world is really this exciting. I wonder why my parents would always restrict me from going out alone? Sure, I'm just a little girl. But I can protect myself and I won't get easily preyed on._ After all, the girl has been trained by her father a martial arts technique called the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu – a technique derived from the genius of her own father who happens to be a master of the sword. It's a technique designed to revitalize the weak by learning the weak points of an enemy and attacking that weakness in at most three blows. It's a serious art indeed, but the little girl attributes it as being a weapon for self-defence.

~o~o~o~

Going back to the parade, the girl was not actually there to watch the performance on the street. Her main goal for this sneak-out operation was to go and visit the marketplace, which was especially crowded with more people (buyers and sellers alike) at that time due to the on-going local festival. She made her way through the busy crowd, holding tightly in her small hands a purse that has a strap connected to her wrist. In that tiny purse contains the little girl's only treasure – a few paper bills and some loose coins that she has so earnestly saved for that very moment.

Actually one week ago, she and her mother dropped by the marketplace to buy items for their house renovation – some ancient paintings and calligraphy items, one flower vase and some ornaments all for decorative purposes. The little girl, while holding her mother's left hand, looked around to see what things might interest her. And true enough, it did not take long before she was able to find one. It was what was expected from a young girl like her – a doll. It was standing on display at a seller's place from across the home decoration shop. The doll had beautiful, tantalizing, big eyes that seem so real the girl could almost see it blink (no really, it was just part of her imagination of course). It had beautiful curly hair and was dressed in a western-style gown emphasized by an elaborate lace trimming. The doll screamed "_Please buy me! Please buy me!_" in the little girl's mind and she thought that she could never forgive herself if she won't do anything to adhere to the doll's plea. The girl pulled her mother's arm in an attempt to get her attention.

"Mommy!", she was saying this for at least ten times.

Her mother, who was almost finished talking to the merchant regarding her change, turned to the little girl in inquiry: "What is it, honey? You see, mommy is still not finished talking here to auntie. So please behave yourself and wait there, okay?"

The little girl could only nod her head in obedience. When the time was right, the girl pulled her mother's arm towards the direction of the doll. When she was finally able to get a close-up look at her prospect, the little girl smiled in the cutest way she could to her puzzled mother.

"Mommy?" accompanied by her sincere, begging eyes. "Can you please buy me this doll? Pretty please?" after which the girl grabbed the doll from its display stand and cradled it to her arms.

The amused mother politely asked the merchant, "How much for the doll?"

"It's forty two, ma'am. Actually, it was priced at fifty this morning. But since the day is almost over, I can give you a big discount. It's a rare doll by the way and only a few…"

"Can't you lower the price? Say, thirty? I'll take it!", the mother cut the merchant's sales talk.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. But my final price is forty."

"Forty?" the mother checked her wallet for the remaining money she had. Counting the bills and coins in total, she looked at the little girl's eyes with disappointment.

In a calm and gentle voice, the mother asked her daughter: "Honey, please put back that doll on the stand. We don't have enough money to buy it right now. But I promise, daddy and I will buy you one if we'll have extra money next month."

The little girl did not look at her mother's eyes but instead directed her gaze on the doll's glossy eyes. As if parting ways with an old-time friend, tears were starting to form in the little girl's eyes as she carefully put the doll back to its original place. Then she bowed her head in a conceding manner as she said, "Okay, let's go home mommy."

She grabbed her mother's arm and led her to the main walkway. They were both quiet and obviously disappointed as they walked their way home. Upon reaching their doorstep, the mother softly voiced out: "I'm sorry about the doll, honey. If I only had enough money, I would've bought it for you of course. Now cheer up…"

She held the little girl's chin up and looked straight into her teary eyes: "I promise that I will buy you a new doll next month. Is that okay? Pinky promise, ne?" and she offered her little finger to touch the little girl's hand. But the girl had other plans in mind.

"Mommy, how much money do you have in your wallet?", she eagerly asked her mother. After checking the total, the mother said she had thirty five.

Delight glistening in her eyes once more, the little girl asked: "Mommy, can you just give me the extra five?"

Hesitating at first, the mother willingly obliged by the girl's request and the two entered the house light-heartedly.

~o~o~o~

The moment she has been waiting for the whole week long has arrived. There she was, back at the marketplace, holding her purse containing the money to purchase that doll. The little girl has worked really hard the entire week of the summer vacation to do the household chores – sweep the floor, water the plants, wipe the chairs and tables, arrange the books, dust off the furniture – anything but cook (well, this task is reserved for the elder people because kids are not allowed in the kitchen, the girl thought). In return, she would be rewarded with money by her father.

"Daddy, can you ask me to do something?", the girl innocently inquired.

Chuckling softly at his daughter's odd request, the father answered: "And why would I do that, dear one?" and his chuckle turned into an outright laugh.

Without blinking, the little girl said in a convincing tone: "Because I want _earn_ money."

The father's laugh subsided and he returned to his serious stance. The girl told her father the story from yesterday, when she and her mother went to the marketplace all leading to the conclusion that she wants to buy the doll for herself. Apprehensive at first, the father couldn't do anything when his daughter sweet-talks her way. And so they had an agreement – that the girl will help her mother do the tasks at home and she will be rewarded in turn. That reward was up to his daughter, the father declared.

~o~o~o~

At first, the little girl seemed lost when she set foot at the marketplace's entrance. There were more people this time than she can remember. It was the last day of the festival and so more people raided the place to avail of big bargains. Being the small girl that she is, the girl was quickly overwhelmed by the busy and continuously moving crowd. She carefully drew in her mind the exact location of the doll merchant. She remembered it was somewhere across the decorations shop. Upon seeing the proper signage, the little girl hurried her way to that familiar spot. She tried to run, but there was just too many people around that all she could do was skip sideward from a person walking towards her, then walk straight, and skip sideward again. The atmosphere was humid during that afternoon and tiny drops of sweat were forming on the little girl's forehead. She then removed the strap of her purse attached to her right hand and wiped off her forehead and neck. It was clearly hot and dry and the girl suddenly felt uncomfortable being in the middle of the marketplace.

As she was walking towards the doll merchant, a loud bump was heard from her left ear – someone bumped her shoulder deliberately. The little girl ignored it at first, but when she was about to strap the purse back to her right hand – there was nothing. Literally nothing. Her purse was gone!

Panicked and shocked at the same time, her first instinct was to search her surroundings for the culprit of her stolen purse. She looked to the left, then to the right, and all she could see were blurry images of people walking around. They were blurry because the little girl was on the verge of crying. But she thought that crying is surely not a sign of courage so she fought hard to keep the water in her eyes from falling and continued the search. With small fists trembling in hopelessness, she marched her way through the crowd of adult people and from a short distance, the little girl saw a skinny boy breathing heavily while clutching a small object in his right hand. The boy looked exhausted and sweaty all over – as if he just stopped from a distant running.

Connecting the dots of information in her mind, the little girl concluded that the boy was the one who took her purse. Gearing to take back what was stolen from her, the girl clenched her fists and grinded her teeth in anger. In just a split second, she charged her way and ran fast towards the boy, who happened to turn his back against her in an attempt to walk ahead. Only a few seconds passed and all the girl could hear was a loud expression of surprise from the boy (though she did not know what that meant). The little girl deliberately bumped her head against the boy's back which resulted in the boy toppling down to the ground face first.

The surprised (and obviously hurt) boy sat back up and checked the bump on his forehead before checking his aching back. He looked at the person who hit him hard and was surprised to see a little girl standing angrily in front of him. Instead of lashing back at her, the boy found himself wanting to laugh secretly for he thought that the girl's appearance was funny – with those prominent chubby cheeks of hers, her rather big arms and clenched fists that either looked like she was wearing invisible boxing gloves or she had swollen fists (naturally). The angry sapphire eyes staring at him were also funny (and quite cute) for his preference. Holding back the chuckle, the boy carefully helped himself up and dusted off the dirt from his ragged clothes.

But before he could regain his balance, the little girl was already in front of him trying to grab the object he was holding with this hand. The boy dodged the attack by swinging his hand up in the air to keep it away from her.

In a confused and defensive tone, the boy asked: "What do you want?" while continuing to shoo the girl away from him. "Get away!"

"Give it back to me!" the girl cried out loud.

Before he could utter another word, the girl jumped to reach his hand in an attempt to overcome their apparent height difference. But it was futile. The boy tossed the object from right to left hand, slid it fast in his pocket, and ran away. The little girl did not falter and ran after the boy. Minutes of cat-and-dog (or cat-and-mouse) chase ensued, with the boy swiftly moving his way around the marketplace (through the stores and the secret passages and the shortcuts) and the girl never losing sight of her elusive target.

After turning to one busy corner of the marketplace, the boy stopped and put both hands on his knees to rest and catch his breath. He looked around and was glad to finally get away from the chubby little girl. He stepped one foot forward, and then he felt sudden pain – again.

"Gotcha!", and before he could react, he found both his arms twisted backwards and held by small but firm hands. The boy looked over his shoulder and saw a familiar chubby figure behind. Man, she was fast – and sleek – and … before the boy could finish his thoughts, the little girl shouted with a raised eyebrow: "Will you give it back to me now?"

The boy tried to move, but the girl's grapple was so secure and stern. "I don't know what you're talking abo….." and that last word turned into an exclamation of pain for the girl twisted his arms even more.

Remembering where he put the stolen purse from a while ago, the girl used one hand to search for his pockets while the other still held the boy's arms firmly in place. And on one pocket, she successfully recognized the shape and texture of her missing property. She pulled it out and let the boy go eventually. But much to her disappointment, the thing she was holding wasn't even close to what her purse looks like. Feeling defeated, deceived and exhausted all at the same time, she slowly bowed her head, knelt and sobbed hopelessly – the object she's holding dropping to the ground. Her shoulders were shaking and her tears overflowing. She used both palms to cover her eyes as she continued to sob in disbelief.

Confused at a different level, the bot lowered himself to the girl's kneeling position and hesitantly inquired: "Are you alright?"

The little girl would not speak at first, her emotions still consuming her. But after staring at the boy's persuasive eyes, she finally blurted out like a child complaining to her mother that her playmate stole her candy: "M-my w-wallet…" she found it hard to speak and sob at the same time.

"It was stolen. Somebody took it from me and I thought…", she was looking at the inquiring eyes in front of her.

"…I thought that you were the one who stole it. Because you.. you looked like the one who stole it from me and you looked tired and sweaty and…" the girl shifted her gaze to the purse lying in the ground of dirt. She picked it up and handed it to the boy.

"…and you were holding this in your hand and I thought… I thought that it was mine so I asked you to return it but you didn't and you ran instead so I chased after you but you were so fast and…" she was running out of breath but her sobbing did not subside even for a second.

She wiped her eyes and her nose with the dirty hand that picked the purse from the ground, thus creating a trail of brown lines on her cheeks and the area under the nose (making her look more pitiful and funnier at the same time).

"And then I found you here and I forced you to give it to me and so I grabbed you and searched through your pockets. And I thought it was my wallet… but it's not…", another surge of emotions started to build within her chest.

Directing her look back at the boy, she continued "I…", she was nervous and shy at first.

"I- I'm sorry if I ever hurt you by pushing you to the ground and twisting your arms. I'm really, really…" and the little girl was not able to finish the sentence because she couldn't hold her tears back. She was crying hysterically like a baby, occasionally covering her eyes with the back of her palm.

The boy tried to comfort her by caressing her back with his calloused but gentle hands in a n upward-downward motion. "There…there", he said softly.

"You don't have to cry about that. I'm okay. I'm not even hurt at all." It was a half-lie, but he needed to say that to appease the girl.

"Really?", the girl ceased her crying and looked at the boy unsurely.

"Uh-huh", the boy answered with a confirming smile in his face. The girl's puffy eyes suddenly glistened with relief and delight and she returned a smile.

"Here, let me help you." And the boy offered his hands to pull the girl back up.

"T-thank you." The little girl timidly said.

~o~o~o~

As they were walking together, the boy inquired: "So, can you tell me why you are walking the streets and the market all to yourself? This place is not safe for a child like you, you know."

"But you're also a child…", the girl answered defensively. "…and you're also alone", she added.

"Oh!" The boy briefly stopped and scratched his head comically. "I'm just a child, am I not?" and the two broke out in contagious laughter.

When it subsided, the boy asked again: "But I'm serious… what are you doing here at this time anyway?"

The smile on the little girl's lips slowly turned into a frown. She remembered the real reason why she was there in the first place. Sadness was slowly taking over her when she spoke up.

"I'm here to buy the doll. I saw it last week when I was with mommy, but she didn't have enough money at the time so I had to do something to earn money. So I asked daddy to give me something to do and he asked me to do the house chores, so I did and…" She stopped and unconsciously clenched her fists.

"…and when I was able to get the forty needed, I went here even though my parents don't know and I…", she shifted her gaze to the boy with a worried look. "I don't know what will happen if they will find out that I just sneaked out and… and that my wallet is now missing and all the money I have saved are…" She held her breath for a few seconds.

Gone – she was too afraid to admit it and was unable to say this last word.

The boy wanted to make her feel better either by telling her that he will help her find the lost wallet (which was least likely to succeed given the current situation), or by changing the topic altogether. He was about to share one story of his own adventures when he was distracted by a familiar boy walking from behind the girl in a distant.

~o~o~o~

That boy had yellow, spiky hair and wore a bandana. He was merrily tossing a small object on one hand in a rhythmic pattern while the other raised hand nested his head from the back. His stance was playful and witty at the same time, with eyes as sharp and alert as an adult's. He can be classified as a teenager judging by the looks and height – not too short to still be called a child, but not too grown up to be considered a man.

As silence was slowly taking charge, the little girl examined the boy's puzzled look. She was about to ask something about him, but the girl was interrupted instead.

"Uh…" the boy started speaking. "You wallet… what does it look like?"

"It's small and rounded and has a ribbon strap."

With gaze still frozen at the yellow-haired boy from behind her, the boy continued: "What's the color?"

The little girl was starting to get irritated at him at that point because she continues to talk, and yet the boy wasn't even looking at her. Crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow, she frowned while saying in a rather loud voice: "It's red but has some white drawings in it. Why do you ask? Will you look at me when I'm…"

The boy quickly looked back at the little girl and held her shoulders while saying: "Just wait right here. I'll be back in a minute." And the boy gently pushed her to the side and started walking away.

"Wait!", the girl shouted. "Where are you going?"

"I'll just greet a friend of mine. Stay where you are, okay? Just trust me and do as I say." The volume of his voice diminished as the distance between them widened.

~o~o~o~

The yellow-haired boy stopped upon recognizing a familiar face slowly approaching him. "Hey there, buddy!", he waved his hand at the boy.

"Hey, buddy! What are you doing here?", the younger boy asked.

"Hmmm…" the yellow-haired boy pondered in a suspicious tone. "You're really going to ask me _what_ I'm doing here?"

The boy simply smiled upon their mutual comprehension of what he meant by that. "What's that thing you're holding there? Seems like something a macho guy like you wouldn't use, eh?"

"Haha! You bet, buddy. This is what I _harvested_ this afternoon, not including the others I got this morning." With this, the yellow-haired boy stopped the tossing motion and laid out the object in his palm for his friend to see. It perfectly matched the descriptions – it was a small, red wallet with a ribbon strap. "It's actually pretty heavy for its size", boasted the taller boy. "Which could only mean one thing – it's pretty loaded." And he let out a mocking laugh.

"Can I see it?"

The taller boy unhesitatingly handed the wallet to his friend. Upon landing on his calloused hands, the boy examined it and tossed it twice to confirm its weight. "It really is loaded, buddy!", he blurted out.

"I told you, never underestimate my skills, little boy!" and he patted the shorter boy's head like a master would pat the head of his pet dog.

"Which got me thinking…", the boy said to his pal. "…what time does the ramen house close on weekends?"

"Huh?" the yellow-haired boy was puzzled at the sudden change of topic.

"The ramen house near the hideout. I bet you could treat me one bowl with this harvest, right?"

"Oh!" the taller boy exclaimed in understanding. "Haha, of course buddy! Not only you. I could treat the rest of the gang with it."

"Oh really? Speaking of which…" the boy clenched the wallet firmly in his hand. "…there goes the gang. We could eat together if you insist."

"Where?"

"Behind you."

The yellow-haired boy turned around to welcome his other friends – but there were only the sellers shouting out the final price of their merchandise. There was not one familiar face in that area so he turned around again to clarify this with his friend: "But they're not here, bud -" And he was also not there – his friend and the wallet.

~o~o~o~

The little girl was starting to get impatient at the boy's waiting game. She played with her fingers, alternating one over the other, to pass the time. She noted the adult people passing by and then noticed that the temperature was not too hot anymore. She looked up to the sky and saw clouds starting to form above. The once bluish sky was changing to a more neutral hue of grey. Her attention was grabbed by a familiar voice – it was getting louder and louder and the bearer of the voice was getting closer and closer.

"HEYYY!" the boy waved his hand towards the little girl. He was running really fast, and the next thing the girl knew, she was grabbed by the wrist by her companion. The boy pulled the girl's arm in a notion to follow his lead and run with him.

The little girl, though confused by the situation, let herself be dragged by the boy as they both ran through the marketplace. She could hear one loud voice shouting from afar seemingly calling the boy's name, but she did not concern herself with this as much. The boy continued to lead the two of them through the shortcuts he knew of, without looking back at the little girl. After a few more minutes of running, the boy finally stopped on a small space in between two textile stands.

Huffing their breaths out, the little girl angrily removed her wrist from the boy's hold. "What's the meaning of all of this? Why did we have to run so fast like that? You didn't tell me anything, you just told me to do as you say."

The boy, while still catching his breath, answered vaguely: "Yeah…"

"So? Can you explain everything to me now? You asked me to stay there and wait for you. And then all of a sudden, you asked me to run. Why did you…"

The boy did not hear the rest of the words she said because he saw his yellow-haired friend walking near their resting spot, his watchful eyes carefully dissecting the sections in between stands for any trace of his friend who deceived him. The yellow-haired boy was getting closer to the textile stand, and the younger boy thought that there's nowhere else to run at that point. They will eventually be caught – him and the little girl – the boy thought of hopelessly.

"Hey you!" the girl shouted as she snapped the boy out of his absentmindedness. "Why don't you look and talk to me when…"

The boy covered the girl's mouth with his left hand to silence her. He needed to do this because the yellow-haired boy was about to hear (and see) the two of them hiding between the two stands. "Sssshhh…", he looked briefly at the girl to warn her to stay quiet.

As the yellow-haired boy was about to check on the space between the two textile stands, the hand that covered the little girl's mouth pressed harder as the tension within the boy grew. As the taller boy's eyes were slowly directing towards that space, a delivery man carrying a big container on his back suddenly passed by and covered the yellow-haired boy's view of the space between the textile shops. It was only a few seconds, but the timing was so perfect that not even a shadow of the boy or the little girl was seen.

The boy was still cautiously keeping an eye at his older friend who just passed by them, when he felt sudden pain – then again.

The little girl, who grew impatient from having no clue of what was happening around, angrily bit the boy's hand that covered her mouth.

"Awwww!" the boy cried out loud. The traces of her teeth etched through his skin and left a red mark on his hand. "What did you do that for?"

"You asked me to wait for you, then run with you, and then you covered my mouth for no reason at all. Are you playing around with me? Or you just want some good time? You answer me right now! Because if you don't… if you don't, I'm going to force you by applying what I learned from daddy."

Still touching his left hand for the possible wound he would have from the girl's bite, the boy took out the red wallet from his pocket and gave it to the angry, chubby girl. "Here.."

Her fiery blue eyes were instantly transformed to a calmer shade when she saw what the boy handed to her – it was her stolen wallet!

"My friends live around here and they steal valuables such as that wallet. They do it in order to survive – they are orphans with no home to stay in. I tried to convince them to stop stealing from other people, but they just wouldn't listen. As much as I understand their situation, I still am against stealing itself. I would rather work hard and earn myself money. Just like what you did." The boy explained to which he followed by a sincere smile towards the little girl.

At that point, the girl understood everything that had happened. Still clasping the wallet in her hands, tears started to form in her eyes once more. She looked at the boy's eyes and without a word, threw herself to him in a warm embrace. Still wrapping her arms around the boy's neck, she whispered weakly: "Thank you. Thank you so much!" and she cried all her heart out.

The boy simply smiled in acknowledgement and touched her smooth, black hair gently. He then said rather jokingly: "This is the third time I saw you cry. I didn't know you were such a crybaby."

The little girl ignored the remark and just embraced him even more. When it subsided, she released her arms and wiped off the tears. Barely able to speak, she said: "I-I'm sorry for everything. And your hand…", she gently took the boy's left hand and checked on her teeth marks. She looked so worried and thought that it might leave a scar, so she pressed his hand against her cheeks to caress it.

This made the boy blush in embarrassment. He then pulled his hand back and uttered softly: "It's okay. It's far from painful."

The little girl smiled and the two walked back to the streets together.

~o~o~o~

They were walking in a slow pace when the boy saw another familiar figure from a distance. This time, the familiar figure was a tall, grown-up man walking towards their direction.

With his right foot automatically stepping backward as a sign of retreat, the boy whispered at the girl in a nervous tone: "Uhmmm… I need to go. There's something else I need to do. This is where I leave you."

And with that, he tapped the girl's shoulder twice to signal parting ways with her. "I had fun this afternoon!" and he gave her a smile.

Before the little girl could say anything, the boy already ran towards the opposite direction.

"Wait!" the girl shouted. "I forgot to ask your name!" But the boy was nowhere in sight. Feeling a bit disappointed, the girl turned back to continue her walk.

She then saw the grown-up man just a few feet away from her. His stance was commanding and could pass as intimidating. His black hair was long but not outright straight. His muscles looked tensed and his shoulders were broad. The grown-up man glanced down at the little girl looking at him. The girl blinked, bowed her head, and continued to walk ahead. The tall man continued his walk as well, towards the direction where the boy ran a few moments ago.

The clouds above were greyer and heavier that time, warning everyone of an impending heavy downpour. The little girl acknowledged this and made her way back to the house. She may have missed on buying the doll she wanted so badly, but she gained something (or rather someone) more important in return – a new friend.


End file.
